Welcome to Part Three of our Web Traffic Blueprint article series, where we show you how to create an automated web traffic generation machine using the WordPress CMS.
In Part One of this series, we explained why using an expertly configured WordPress site is the key to automating traffic to your website …
(With an expertly configured WordPress website or blog, all you have to do to automatically start attracting web traffic is post great content consistently!)
In Part Two, we looked at the setup phase of the blueprint. We helped you understand the best way to get started if you don’t have a web presence yet, how to set things up if you already have a site, and what to do if your website has been built with WordPress.
(In Part 2 we show you how to set up WordPress on your domain)
In this section of the series, we discuss the configuration phase of the WordPress traffic automation system. We explain what makes an expertly configured WordPress site different than a professionally configured website, and how much work is required to ensure that when all is set up and fully configured, you can bring new traffic automatically when you start to add content on your web site.
WordPress Web Traffic Automation System – Configuration
Finding ways to attract more visitors to one’s website is often cited by most business owners as one of their greatest challenges online. With competition becoming increasingly more difficult businesses are researching every advantage available to improve their performance and results online.
Having the ability to automatically generate traffic on demand can provide website owners with a huge advantage over the competition. With an expertly configured WordPress site, you have a significant competitive advantage from the very beginning.
The Difference Is In The Configuration
There is a difference between an expertly configured WordPress site and a site that has been professionally installed and set up by an expert website builder but not necessarily configured to take advantage of everything WordPress can offer.
Here’s a simple way to understand the difference:
With a WordPress site that has been expertly configured you get a web presence plus online business marketing automation!
(An expertly configured site gives you a web presence with a built-in automated online business marketing system!)
Not only does a whole lot more labor go into building and integrating an automated online business marketing process into your website, it also takes a special type of expert knowledge.
Let’s illustrate this with a joke.
Ludicrous Or Fair? You Decide …
All was running smoothly in the gizmo-making manufacturing plant when all of a sudden, things came to a halt.
As no one could figure out what happened, the manager decided to call in an expert to fix the problem.
Soon afterward, the expert arrived and, without saying a word, headed out directly to the main control box. After staring at the schematics for no more than 3 minutes, the expert then produced a teensy-weensy hammer and made a very gentle tap about two cm from the right side of the control unit.
Immediately, every machine inside the assembly plant sprang to life once again.
The floor manager was greatly relieved as he thanked the expert, who left as quickly as he had arrived.
A couple of days later, the factory manager received a request for payment of services rendered for $5,000.
The factory manager dialled the expert, demanding to know why they had been charged such an exorbitant fee for so little time spent delivering such minimal amount of work and then requested an itemized invoice before hanging up.
The next day, an invoice arrived and was placed in the manager’s intray. Upon opening the envelope, this is what he saw:
The #1 challenge most businesses face online is driving new visitors to their sites.
In the story we’ve just described, how much money did the widget factory stand to lose when the machines stopped functioning and no one in the business had the expertise to fix it? Did the expert not have the right to demand fair compensation for spending years developing the knowledge, skills and expertise that allowed him to quickly avert a serious crisis?
Similarly, if you could have a web site configured so all you have to do is publish new content and search engines, social networks and dozens of other traffic-generating online properties would be instantly notified, how much time and money would this save you?
(How much time and money would you save if you could automate the process of driving traffic to your website?)
While the solution to many challenges often seems ridiculously simple in hindsight, it rarely is that simple or easy when you are trying to work things out.
Knowing how to expertly configure a WordPress site is more than simply installing a website and configuring basic settings. It involves knowing where to tap! This includes knowing things such as:
- Which programs you need to install for certain things to occur on your site.
- Which 3rd-party accounts you need to set up and activate to achieve specific outcomes
- Which options need to be configured to ensure that processes will work as expected, etc.
(Generating new traffic automatically with WordPress is a process that requires knowledge and expertise)
Although this stage of the WordPress traffic automation system may not seem so technically difficult, it can be quite complicated. This is because it’s not just about installing a piece of software, clicking a couple of buttons … it’s all this and much more.
The configuration stage is a complex process that involves your server, your website or blog, and various third-party sites and/or online services …
(Expertly configuring your website involves more than just configuring some WordPress settings)
If we create a simplified diagram showing the activities involved in the configuration process, it would look like this …
(A simplistic diagram of the steps involved in the configuration phase)
Let’s take a look at what’s involved.
Your Server – Configuration
We’re not talking here about the process of configuring your web-hosting account for installation purposes (this is normally done during the Setup phase). What we are talking about, is fine-tuning settings and options in your webhosting account that affect how you will handle web traffic …
(In the configuration phase, your server settings need to be checked for handling both good and bad traffic)
Not all traffic is welcome traffic. Some of the traffic your site can attract will be unwanted traffic like spam, security threats, brute-force bot attacks, etc.
This area of the configuration process, therefore, requires evaluating your needs, planning for both bad and good traffic and then adjusting settings in your server accordingly. This includes things like implementing server-level spam protection and preventing security threats, to configuring your domain and email redirections, etc …
(Have you configured your control panel settings for handling things like email forwarding, page error redirects, etc?)
After checking your server settings and configuring these, the next step of the configuration phase is to set up various third-party sites and/or online services.
Third-Party Sites Integration
The concept behind adding external sites is that all of your content will be posted to one central location (your WordPress site) and from there, it will get distributed automatically to other components of your traffic generation system, or notify traffic-related web properties and services.
After incorporating these external sites into your setup, content linking back to your website is automatically posted to search, social and aggregator accounts. Your content will then be given exposure to a new audience and new sources of traffic.
Some sites and online platforms will need to be set up before configuring your site to save time and some will need to be done later, during the automation phase.
For example, you will want to set up the following accounts:
Google Webmasters
(Google Search Console)
Google Search Console lets you tell Google about your site’s pages, submit XML sitemaps for automatic page indexing, and provides site owners with a range of useful information, tools, and diagnostic reports about their website.
After setting up your account and entering site details, your information can be used to automate web traffic settings and notifications in WordPress using plugins like Yoast SEO (see further below) and other applications.
Google Analytics
(Google Analytics)
Google Analytics lets you improve your site’s performance, SEO, marketing activities, and more, by tracking all user behaviour, pages visited, keywords searched for, social media referrals, etc.
Once your Google Analytics account and site data are set up, you can add visitor tracking code to all of your web pages in WordPress via a simple plugin and feed data instantly to other useful applications.
Bing Data And Tools
(Drive more traffic with Bing Data And Tools)
Bing Webmaster Tools is similar to Google Search Console. Once your Bing Webmaster Tools account is set up, use the information with traffic settings in WordPress (e.g. using plugins like Yoast SEO – see further below) and other applications.
WordPress.com
(WordPress.com)
As discussed in Part Two, WordPress provides users with a hosted and a self-hosted option. We recommended choosing the self-hosted WordPress option if you are planning to build a professional web presence.
WordPress.com (the hosted option), however, provides a number of useful features, which a number of WordPress plugins can access. We recommend setting up an account at WordPress.com, therefore, and we’ll show you how to integrate these features into your web traffic generation system in Part 4 of this series.
Social Media And Social Bookmarking Accounts
(Syndicate your content automatically to your social media accounts and drive new traffic to your site)
You will need your social media accounts set up in order to configure these as part of your traffic generation system.
Once you have set up and configured everything, you will be able to syndicate your content automatically to your social media sites and social bookmarking accounts and attract new traffic to your site.
Make sure you have set up accounts and profile pages with all of the leading social networks – Facebook, Twitter, Pinterest, LinkedIn, YouTube, etc.
There are loads of social bookmarking sites you can set up accounts with and syndicate your content to. You don’t need to create accounts with all of them, just choose the ones that will work well with your system and/or content syndication tools.
(You can syndicate your content to many social sites. Image: ShareThis.com)
Additional Solutions, RSS Aggregators, Etc.
There are a number of new online platforms and content aggregators that can act as second-tier sources of traffic. Some are free or provide free levels, and some offer a range of pricing plans.
For example, here is a content aggregator site that lets you add a feed from your site …
RebelMouse
(RebelMouse)
RebelMouse is a news aggregator for your social profiles and RSS feeds. Your content displays in a Pinterest-like format and visitors can follow your page.
There are various solutions that can be incorporated into your own web traffic system. Please contact us if you need assistance exploring this area further, or to discuss a strategy to suit your needs.
After you have configured your server settings and set up third-party site accounts, it’s time to configure your site.
WordPress Traffic Configuration
The first step in configuring your site for traffic is to ensure that its global settings have been set up correctly.
Let’s go over some of the important points.
Global Settings
By default, your WordPress administration area includes a Settings menu that allows you to set up your site’s main settings …
(WordPress settings menu)
General Settings
Content entered into fields like Site Title and Tagline can influence your site’s SEO, search indexing, etc …
(Settings Menu – General Settings Screen)
Writing Settings
The Writing Settings area contains one of the most powerful and frequently overlooked built-in traffic notification systems available to WordPress users …
(Global Settings – Writing Settings)
As described below the Update Services section title,
When you publish a new post, WordPress automatically notifies the following site update services …
Unless you have specifically chosen to prevent search engines from indexing your site, then your site will automatically ping the services entered into the Update Services box
By default, this section contains only one entry …
(Writing Settings – Update Services)
You can notify dozens of update services automatically – just add a list of all the update services you want to notify as soon as you publish a new post to this section …
(WordPress lets you notify dozens of update services automatically!)
Download A Comprehensive List Of Ping Services For Your WordPress Site!
Click the link below to download a comprehensive list of reliable and authoritative ping services for your WordPress site or blog:
Download A List Of Ping Services For Your WordPress Site
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Note: If you need help setting up the list of ping services on your site, we recommend using a professional web services provider. You can find professional WordPress service providers in our WordPress Services Directory.
Reading Settings
This section affects how visitors will see your content when they visit your home page and blog pages.
The syndication settings on this page can influence web traffic. For example, your choice to display the full text vs summaries of your post, affects how your content shows up in RSS readers and blog post digests, and could play a part in someone’s choice to explore your site further, and whether or not they will visit your blog to view the rest of the content from a partial feed, or read the content in full without the need to click through to your site.
The most important setting in this section as far as your traffic system is concerned is whether the Search Engine Visibility check box is ticked or not.
Typically, you want to encourage search engines to visit your site. Leaving this box unchecked enables your site to instantly notify your update services list whenever new posts are published (see Writing Settings above). Unless there is a specific reason why search engines should not visit your site, make sure this box is left unticked …
(Settings Menu – Reading Settings Screen)
Discussion Settings
Although discussion settings are mostly concerned with how users engage with content on your site, you have the option to allow notifications to blogs linked to from your posts, and to allow link notifications from other blogs (pingbacks and trackbacks). This can work for you, but it can also drive bad traffic in the form of SPAM comments …
(Global Settings – Discussion Settings)
Permalinks
Your Permalink settings allow you to create search engine-friendly URLs …
(Settings Menu – Permalink Settings)
Here are some of the ways permalinks can be configured …
(Configuring SEO-friendly URLs)
If you need help setting up WordPress permalinks, see this step-by-step tutorial: How To Improve Your WordPress SEO Using SEO-Friendly URLs
Configuring Settings – WP Plugins
The WordPress developer community makes available plugins that can add just about every type of functionality to your site, including traffic generation.
Let’s look at some types of plugin categories that affect traffic and plugin examples
Blog Defender Security Plugin
Once again, it’s important to configure your site for handling both good traffic and bad traffic. Regardless of the type of business you run or plan to run online and how small you think your web presence is, you cannot ignore the importance of web security.
(Security Plugins help prevent bad traffic from harming your web presence)
Security plugins like Blog Defender help to make your WordPress blog invisible to bots and hackers.
To learn more, go here:
WordPress SEO Plugins – Yoast SEO
SEO plugins help drive traffic by improving your website’s SEO …
(Yoast SEO – WP Plugin)
Use a powerful plugin like Yoast SEO (formerly known as WordPress SEO by Yoast) to improve your SEO. Once properly configured, this plugin not only makes your web pages easier for search engines to find, crawl and index, it allows you to configure how your content will show up in Google’s search results and social media pages, e.g. Twitter, Facebook, and Google+.
Social Plugins
Allowing your visitors to easily share your content online can help boost traffic to your site, especially if you publish great content that adds value to readers.
(You can easily add social features to your website with free or inexpensive WordPress plugins)
WordPress users can easily add social features to their website with free or inexpensive WordPress plugins.
Most social sharing plugins allow you to specify which sites visitors can share your content to, embed social buttons into your content, set up custom post messages, display/hide share counters (e.g. number of likes), etc. Some plugins even allow you to protect content which visitors can unlock by linking or tweeting your page.
Configuring Settings – WordPress Themes
As well as configuring various plugins, many WordPress themes also include features that help grow your site’s traffic.
For example, as well as options and settings for configuring the layout and design of your website, some themes also include built-in options for improving SEO and site navigation structure for better indexing, add analytics, social sharing buttons, etc …
(Many WordPress themes like Graphene (a free theme) come with built-in traffic optimization features)
With many quality themes, adding social sharing features to your website is as easy as clicking a few buttons and enabling the function …
(Many WordPress themes have built-in social sharing features that can be easily enabled on with the click of a button)
WordPress Traffic Configuration – Additional Steps
Last (but by no means least) in the WordPress traffic configuration process, are the areas that need to be set up outside of the global settings.
This includes:
Compliance Pages
Once again, when preparing your site for an increase in visitor numbers, it’s important to plan not only for how to handle bad and good traffic but also for all the situations that can hurt your business when more and more people find and begin to visit your website.
If you do any kind of business online, you need to make sure that your website is compliant with legal requirements of government agencies that regulate how business online is done.
(Is Your Site Legally Compliant?)
If you need help adding legal pages to WordPress, see this article:
Post Categories & Tags
WordPress categories and tags help improve traffic by allowing search engines to better index your web pages.
(Post categories help search engines index your pages, which helps you get more traffic.)
As we strongly recommend in this article, your site’s categories and tags should be set up earlier on, during the Website Planning Stage.
In the configuration phase, you will want to review and make sure that your site’s categories and tags have been correctly set up to deliver optimal benefits.
Site Map
A visitor site map that displays all of your pages and posts is not only a useful navigation tool, it can also help external applications find your website content …
(A site map is not just great for visitors, but for web traffic too!)
An HTML site map and an XML sitemap are not the same thing. Only search engines can interpret XML sitemaps. Although search engines like Google can index your pages just from an XML sitemap (which a plugin like Yoast SEO can provide – see earlier section), allowing visitors to find more pages on your site results in increased traffic.
404 Error Page – Don’t Lose Traffic!
When visitors searching online for your site enter the wrong URL or click on hyperlinks pointing to pages on your website that no longer exist, they are presented with a 404 error page …
(A WordPress 404 Page)
A 404 Error Page can be configured to redirect confused visitors to your functional web pages …
(Configuring your 404 page allows you to redirect web traffic that may otherwise be lost.)
Although a 404 page can be set up in your web server, there are several plugins for WordPress that allow you to easily configure your 404 page from your WordPress admin.
WordPress Traffic Automation System: Configuration Stage – Summary
Once your website has been expertly configured and fully set up, all you have to do then is add great content on a consistent basis to bring traffic.
The process of expertly configuring your WordPress site, however, can be quite involved , requiring the configuration and integration of various elements and web properties …
(Traffic Blueprint – Configuration Checklist)
The kind of knowledge and expertise required to perform this stage of the traffic automation process can take some website developers months to learn.
Once you have expertly configured your WordPress site, the next step is to automate the process. This step is covered in the next article in the WordPress Traffic Blueprint series.
This is the end of Section 3
To read the rest of this article, click here:
This tutorial is part of a comprehensive series of articles aimed at helping you learn how to grow your business online and drive traffic sustainably using a WordPress-driven website and proven online marketing strategies.
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